Gov. John Kasich has included a cigarette tax as part of his proposed budget. Some health experts believe this will go a long way to getting people to quit.

The governor’s proposal would tack another dollar onto the existing $1.25 tax that already comes with every pack of cigarettes. That’s higher than the hike Kasich pitched last year, which was 60 cents.

This Labor Day, there are a record low number of Ohioans in the labor force—fewer than there have been since October 1978. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports just 59 percent of Americans 16 and over have declared that they are part of the labor force; in Ohio, that figure is just under 63 percent, a 34-year low. That’s not the only thing that has the progressives at Policy Matters Ohio worried. Amy Hanauer says the group’s annual Labor Day report also shows the state lost more than 2.3 percent of its jobs since 2005, while the country added 3.8 percent in that same period.

As part of Ohio Governor John Kasich’s budget plan released Monday, the republican announced that he’ll push for expanding Ohio Medicaid services under the federal health care law.

The governor’s plan to expand the Medicaid program has some conservative leaning groups concerned. Opposition to the plan is largely centered on increased administrative costs for the state. And some say Medicaid funding is already unsustainable, so why expand the program? Seth Morgan is policy director of Americans for Prosperity – Ohio.

A group of governors from both major political parties met with President Obama and other White House officials today, to talk about the impact the so-called “fiscal cliff” could have on states. And as Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports, it’s something the governor and advocates from across the political spectrum have been worried about as well.